Using Blogs in Science Education

So I’ve written and submitted this blog post directly in Facebook using a new application called Blog It by Six Apart. With this application a person on Facebook can write a post and publish it on all of their blogs at the same time. I find the usability of this tool somewhat confusing, though. Why would I want to write the same thing on two (or more) different blogs? If I have multiple blogs it must be because they serve separate functions. For example, I have two blogs: one for my students and this one for me. I’m not going to post this blog to my student blog because it wouldn’t have any value to them. Who has several blogs with the same function? And what’s the point? Can someone enlighten me?

The advantage I see in this application is that all of my Facebook “friends” get a news feed telling them that I have updated my blog. Most of my friends don’t use blog readers, but they check their Facebook pages religiously. However, the downside to this is that I have purposely not become “friends” with my students (see below) and so they cannot receive one of my Blog It Facebook feeds. This is still a useful function for this particular blog, however, as I am willing to be friends with educators.

By the way, my whole entry into the Facebook world was done quite reluctantly. After much begging by my friends I finally relented and opened up a Facebook account. I was a bit nervous because I wasn’t sure how protected I would be from students viewing my profile page. To be honest, I was also worried I would see their profile pages! But, thankfully I soon discovered that unless I agree to be their “friend”, a student cannot access my information and vice versa.

So I started a group page for my students who went on a trip to Alaska with me last summer and I joined my current AP Biology students’ group. But, the question I am pondering at the moment is whether or not Facebook is a positive tool to use in the classroom. If so, what is the appropriate way to use this tool?